“Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong.” – 1 Corinthians 16:13

It is important to work hard and smart. Without hard work and smart work nothing grows but “weeds”, some of which are harmful, while others are extremely aggressive and destructive. Failure to act is not an option.

This week we share data, information, experiences and ideas aimed at increasing the pool of knowledge, leading to greater insight, understanding and ultimately wisdom as we move along the discovery spectrum.

When I was growing up in the immediate post World War II (WWII) era, there seemed to be no impediment to progress. Our success was directly proportional to how hard and smart we worked in school, in our jobs and bringing up our families, but this has not been sustained.

Trinidad Express Newspapers published an article on June 18, 2013 by Dr. Rolph Balgobin, then an Independent Senator in the Trinidadian Parliament, entitled “The Gathering Storm”. The article concluded that “there is something dangerous rising in our midst that demands our attention. If we do not act now to address the threat, it will soon confront us”.

I wrote a follow up column on Monday January 27, 2014 delineating the darkness of this Caribbean storm: (1) living above our means; (2) creation of a wealth divide; (3) escalation of crime at all levels of the society; (4) growing drug culture; (4) armed criminals; (5) declining performance in the schools both in terms of indiscipline and educational achievement; (6) egos getting in the way; (7) corruption; (8) poor maintenance of infrastructure; (9) declining value systems; (10) weak economic growth; (11) escalating food imports; (12) failure to put idle agricultural land into production; (13) need for political reform; (14) disregard for the rule of law; (15) indifference to the value of life; (16) threat to democracy; (17) failure to effectively police our laws; (18) failure to exploit renewable energy resources; (19) increasing incidents of improper road behaviour and road rage; and (20) above all, weak leadership.

Since then, we have been threatened by the impact on lives and livelihoods by the scourges of climate change and COVID-19, which call for exceptional leadership at the multinational, national, business, family and personal levels. Now, the Russian-Ukraine war poses a further threat to the recovery process.

It is worth remembering the adage: “Vision without Action is mere fantasy; Action without Vision is folly; neither Vision nor Action wreaks of irresponsibility; Vision and Action induce synergy.”

Public and private sector leadership (vision) and management (action) must act now and show the way.

Let us recognize that “there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens” and that the time for us to grapple our countries by the collar and lead them along a sustainable path is … now.

(Dr. Basil Springer GCM is a Change-Engine Consultant. His email address is basilgf@marketplaceexcellence.com. His columns may be found at www.nothingbeatsbusiness.com ).